The annual FFA Travis County Youth Show was on January 14-16 and many Bowie students won not only some placement ribbons but also some valuable life lessons.

Sophomore Kylee Rhorer won over the judges hearts and impressed them when she showed at TCYS this year.

“I got first with my spot in his breed and reserve breed with my cross. And I won grand champion showmanship,”Rhorer said.

Winning such a big title this year made Rhorer realize how now she can keep improving for next year.

“Winning will make me work harder and believe in myself. It shows all the hard work pays off,” Rhorer said.

Everyone going into the show had a lot of preparation to make sure they would have a successful animal.

“Every day after school I worked with them and would feed them. You have to wash them at least twice a week and also feed them in the morning,” sophomore Kylee Rhorer said.

The time involvement even affected the choice of some people’s animals.

“I chose rabbits because I’m also involved with the musical and the musical is going on the same time as TCYS. The rabbits have a smaller time commitment,” sophomore Jamie Muras said.

For Rhorer the time she invested into her pig was very intense.

“On average I spend 27 hours a week on my pig,” Rhorer said.

The animals are well treated before the show because their health is the primary key to placing.

“Prepping wasn’t too bad besides making feed in the mornings because we were having to change it often” sophomore Brandon Parker said.

A fatal sickness called bacterial and mucoid enteritis was making the rabbits get sick on the, a large number of rabbits were lost and severly affected.

“Rabbits stopped eating and drinking and they lost a ton of weight. People in charge at the farm noticed something wasn’t right so we started on medicated water,” Muras said.

Rhorer, who intends to be a veterinarian in the future sees tragedies like this or losing her animals in an optimistic way.

“It will help me not get attached as easily and realize some animals aren’t all pets, but at the same time I understand how it feels to lose an animal,” Rhorer said.

One of the highlights of TCYS is getting to show the spectators and judges your animal.

“The scores are all different based off of different breeds. For rabbits 40% is off of their pelt quality and 60% is based off of meat amounts,” Muras said

The primary goal for students who participated in TCYS was to do better and improve.

“I didn’t do as well as I wanted last year I told myself at the beginning of this year that I was going to work harder and put more into my animals this year,” junior Kate Buning said.

For some students their dreams came true when they succeeded furthermore than they had in the past.

“I showed goats and lambs at TCYS, my highest goat got second and my lamb got grand champion of his breed,” Parker said.

Buning also won with some other pigs in her category.

“I got third with my gilt. 10th with my dark cross and first with my light cross. It means so much to me because I was so proud of myself and all I accomplished,” Buning said.

TCYS was a win for the FFA this year.